10 Things You Didn't Expect To Happen When You 100% A Video Game

9. You Got Mail - Super Mario Sunshine

super mario sunshine 120 shines
Nintendo

The Mario games are a masterclass in providing fantastic all ages challenges, joy, and satisfying game experiences that are sad to close the book on.

How fortunate then that Super Mario Sunshine cushioned the blow of players’ upset at having finished one of the best games in the series by providing one of the worst rewards for 100% completion we’ve ever seen.

If you did put the time in to collect all 120 Shine Sprites in the game, which is no small task at all, you are granted an alternate ending. Instead of the standard ending which shows you a picture of Il Piantissimo finding the Magic Paintbrush you get a group photo of Mario and all his NPC pals standing above the phrase “Have a relaxing vacation!” If you’re thinking to yourself that that sounds worse than the first option, then you’d be among the majority.

So there’s a surprise for your daunting effort. Not a great surprise, but a surprise.

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Contributor
Contributor

Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.